Celebrating black philanthropy month and our collective history

Each August we celebrate Black Philanthropy Month. This time, I choose to be a more active and vocal participant, and I’m encouraging others within the Diaspora to do the same.

As an African American child growing up in Texas, I was raised with a very clear and powerful philanthropic lens. With blessings came responsibility. I watched (and was sometimes motivated, or made, to join) as my parents gave of their time, talents, and treasure. I accompanied my maternal grandmother every Christmas morning to deliver hot, home-cooked meals to those who didn’t have the means or had no family to share and pray with them. Yet in the context of a 16-year career in institutional philanthropy, I had completely forgotten this history, these norms.

"Let us be clear: Black Philanthropy is no mere tinted twin. It is of another Mother land ... a long, lasting legacy of benevolence, absent need for further evidence. Forget the twisted myths. We have always given our gifts." - Valaida Fullwood, poet and author of Giving Back: A Tribute to Generations of African American Philanthropists

Philanthropy in this country did not begin with the creation of institutions established by oil and steel magnates, or with savvy investors. The origins and forms are numerous, but for me—a Black woman in America—philanthropy is ancient, personal, inter-generationally nurtured, and, quite honestly, expected. And I have this conversation with Black colleagues often. We share the deeply frustrating experience of having our decisions, grant recommendations, and analyses consistently questioned, unjustly critiqued, and sometimes even undermined. There is abiding suspicion that we are notbound by the motivation that should be the foundational drive of everyone in this sector—love of mankind—let alone equipped with the intellectual aptitude and experiential skillset to effectively, “professionally,” do this work.

I want to remind all of my colleagues that Black Americans have a long, beautiful, and sacrificial history of philanthropy. That we bring to this work not only intellect, but home-grown, and therefore deep, experience. It may not always manifest in the form of a large grant to your favorite institution (Robert Smith!), but that’s actually part of the beauty of Black philanthropy. We have a cultural tradition of meeting folks where they are and doing what we can: rent parties; assuming care-taker responsibilities; sharing food and hospitality with strangers; or using collective voice to shame, raise awareness, and eradicate injustice.

Black colleagues in philanthropy, be reminded that we are not simply recipients; we have long been donors.

Remember. Learn. Empower yourself to engage in much-needed conversations around Black philanthropy with renewed awareness, or from a position of genuine, demonstrated interest—these elements tend to make for constructive and transformative dialogue.

About the Author

With over 20 years of experience in the government, civil society, and philanthropic sectors, Yvonne Moore brings wealth of practical knowledge to the creation and refinement of philanthropic goals for her clients, as well as a commitment to bridging theory and practice to ensure donors are able to maximize their investments, and organizations are resourced to achieve their greatest potential. That bridge, as well as the engagement of community is the foundation on which Moore Philanthropy was founded.

Prior to launching Moore Philanthropy Yvonne was the Chief of Staff to Abigail E. Disney where she oversaw the family’s network of media, philanthropic and advocacy organizations. Yvonne provided advisement on the family’s personal philanthropic giving, both domestic and political, and led family’s expansion into international giving in 2008. Prior to accepting the Chief of Staff position with Ms. Disney, Yvonne served as the Executive Director of the Daphne Foundation where she was instrumental in elevating the Foundation’s profile, created a special fund dedicated to increasing the Foundation’s commitment to capacity building, and successfully advocated with donor colleagues to increase giving to their grantees. Before joining the philanthropic sector in 1999, Yvonne spent 10 years working in child protection and advocacy, in both the government and charitable sectors, and is co-author of the reportBridges to Independence: Improving Transitions to Adulthood for Youth Served by the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services.

Yvonne holds a BA from Texas Tech University and an MS in Nonprofit Management from the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy at the New School. She has completed post-graduate studies in democracy and civil society at the University of Cape Town, and nationalism, post-conflict violence and gender at the University of Lower Silesia in Poland. Yvonne is a trustee of the New York Women’s Foundation, Philanthropy New York, and Cause Effective and is a member of the Issue Advisory Committee at the National Center for Family Philanthropy.

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